Human chain being planned in Bengaluru to protest cutting of trees for ad hoardings

Residents left unhappy after 25 flowering trees were chopped on the Outer Ring Road on May 10.

Bengaluru: A citizen protest is erupting over the weekend after 25 flowering trees on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) were cut down on the night of May 10, apparently to make hoardings more visible.

Resident welfare associations and environmentalists will form a human chain on the Bellandur Service Road on Saturday.

Sunil Reddy, an application engineer working in a technology park nearby, first alerted authorities about the incident. This, he said, is the fourth instance of tree- felling. “While the BBMP has taken this particular hoarding down and has filed an FIR against the owner, it is important for people to be more aware and alert about tree-felling and also about making authorities more accountable,” he said. “We have to keep the pressure on and ensure that officials enforce stringent punishment to those tampering with public green cover.”

Over 100 citizens have confirmed participation for the human chain, Reddy, who is an organiser, said. The owner of the hoarding has been identified as Harish Kumar BP.

In March last year, 17 trees were poisoned with chemicals and acids while 13 were chopped on Kalamandir Road in Marathahalli to improve visibility for a hoarding. Even though this triggered a subsequent order by the Lokayukta — who directed the BBMP’s forest wing to take immediate action against advertising agencies that damage trees — such incidents continue unabated. In October, 30 trees located near ORR bridge in Marathahalli were chopped. This was followed by mutilation of eight trees in KR Puram.

Urban conservationist Vijay Nishanth, who has been saving mutilated trees with fungicide, said he is in talks with BBMP officials to implement preventive measures. “Officials must ensure that billboards do not come up near trees and have more stringent monitoring,” he said, explaining that since the BBMP forest cell is short-staffed, the Lokayukta had asked for ‘tree vigilance teams’ comprising activists, environmentalists and nonprofits. “It has not been formed yet and we are awaiting another meeting with the Lokayukta to take that forward.”

A BBMP forest department official said that while the advertising agency responsible for the hoarding is being tracked, authorities will soon decide on preventive measures to ensure hoarding owners do not harm trees.